In August of 2019, the Texans traded a conditional fourth to Cleveland for running back Duke Johnson. That pick would later become a 2020 third-rounder when the condition was met for Johnson to be on Houston’s active roster for at least 10 games.

The shame of it for the Browns was that the Texans received a compensatory pick that year in the third (No. 97, which became Jacob Phillips) for losing Tyrann Mathieu to Kansas City in free agency the season prior, and obviously opted to send their lesser third to Cleveland. Houston would use their natural pick in the third that year (No. 90) to select Jonathan Greenard.

It’s been allowed since 2017 to trade compensatory picks in the NFL — though they can’t technically be traded until they’ve been awarded, which happens around the opening of the league year in March. This circumstance arose in an attempted trade of Sony Michel in August of 2021.

New England wanted to send the running back to the Los Angeles Rams. The compensation was initially reported as a sixth and a fifth in 2022, one or both of which (depending on which reporting you believe) would become a 2022 fourth if one was awarded to the Rams as part of the compensatory process (which was anticipated due to safety John Johnson having signed with the Browns earlier that year).

It’s also been reported that the reason the NFL rejected the terms of the proposed trade is because conditions can’t be attached to a compensatory pick (which seems off the mark in getting to the heart of the matter, though given the timing of the league year it’d essentially be irrelevant). What does make pertinent sense is that the league didn’t allow the trade because LA had no fourth-round pick in their arsenal at that moment, having already traded their natural fourth to Houston a year and a half prior in the Brandin Cooks deal. They were expecting a fourth, but didn’t technically control it yet.

The terms were revised between the Pats and Rams and the trade went through, without a compensatory pick, though LA did ultimately receive one in the fourth round of 2022 for Johnson.

Compensatory picks are static; they are locked into their positions at the end of rounds according to the values of contracts that were signed in the free agency period of the previous year. This is in contrast to natural draft picks, which are ordered based on record — with teams that finish worse selecting earlier.

Fortunately for Browns fans, we can now cheer for whichever team is playing Buffalo, because the worse the Bills finish, the better the draft pick they send to Cleveland. About all the Browns have given fans to root for this season so far is a high draft pick in 2025 anyway.

But hoping for the Browns to lose is tough, even when the season is in the toilet. At least now we can cheer for the team facing the Bills. Thanks, Andrew Berry, for giving us something to get out of bed for on Sundays the rest of the way.

—@PoisonPill4